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Class A3 4-6-2 in O Gauge from Hatton's


Hattons Dave
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello

 

i received the GOG Gazette today and the Hattons advertisement says the A3 loco is now in stock.  I I have one of these and an A4 on pre-order but have not been contacted yet.  Of course, perhaps the information Hattons had at the time of the magazine deadline was accurate before the shipping delay was announced.  However, it is now November and there has been no update I am aware of .  Is there still a delay?  

 

Les

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1 hour ago, les101975jud said:

Hello

 

i received the GOG Gazette today and the Hattons advertisement says the A3 loco is now in stock.  I I have one of these and an A4 on pre-order but have not been contacted yet.  Of course, perhaps the information Hattons had at the time of the magazine deadline was accurate before the shipping delay was announced.  However, it is now November and there has been no update I am aware of .  Is there still a delay?  

 

Les


i have preorders too - and no communication at all. I don’t know what the delay is or when to really expect the A3s.

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Hattons haven't said anything on their social media which they would normally do if there's an new release.

It could be as has been mentioned that the advert was correct at the time of sending it to the publisher as they probably were expecting them around now but with the delays it's now not correct. 

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I went up today for a couple of hours and had a very enjoyable time. Always nice to meet like minded people.

 

Thanks to Hatton's Manager Richard for the behind the scenes guided tour of the business. I must say I was very impressed with the operation and this accounts for the good service I have received from them with my orders. (The usual disclaimer applies. )

 

Met up with Tony Wright and had a chat. Dave came out after the live web chat and had a quick chat too.

 

As planned, I came home with "Papyrus".

 

Business seemed to be brisk. "Flying Scotsman" was a popular choice of course.

 

I will add some pics of the new loco over the weekend.

 

Cheers, Ade. 

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What a terrible interface between motor and wheel gearbox. Took the body off to fit speaker and whilst the wires are in the body refitting the motor connections blades into the fork like connectors on the chassis whilst making sure the gears are engaged and not being able to see what is going on is horrible. 
 

The so called permanent coupling is a bit weak as it relies on two small screws into two very delicate tapped thin pillars of plastic. Not very robust at all. 
 

motion needed tweaking as well as it was set wrong causing the loco to stutter. Better now but I needed to slacken off one of the centre wheel drive pins and set the motion in the right place. 
 

Tender pick ups not bent out enough so wheels loose contact with them. 
 

Rear pony truck spring far too powerful. Have removed it as it caused derailments. 
 

Water scoop on tender hits the boxes on Peco points. Have removed it for now. 
 

Easy to fit decoder in tender and speaker underneath it. 
 

Happy with it, annoying niggles that really could have been fixed with a better design. 
 

Worth the money. Yes. I hope others don’t have the motion problems I have had. Otherwise 7.5/10 

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2 minutes ago, two tone green said:

What a terrible interface between motor and wheel gearbox. Took the body off to fit speaker and whilst the wires are in the body refitting the motor connections blades into the fork like connectors on the chassis whilst making sure the gears are engaged and not being able to see what is going on is horrible. 
 

The so called permanent coupling is a bit weak as it relies on two small screws into two very delicate tapped thin pillars of plastic. Not very robust at all. 
 

motion needed tweaking as well as it was set wrong causing the loco to stutter. Better now but I needed to slacken off one of the centre wheel drive pins and set the motion in the right place. 
 

Tender pick ups not bent out enough so wheels loose contact with them. 
 

Rear pony truck spring far too powerful. Have removed it as it caused derailments. 
 

Water scoop on tender hits the boxes on Peco points. Have removed it for now. 
 

Easy to fit decoder in tender and speaker underneath it. 
 

Happy with it, annoying niggles that really could have been fixed with a better design. 
 

Worth the money. Yes. I hope others don’t have the motion problems I have had. Otherwise 7.5/10 

Didn't happen to take photos did you?

 

I don't model O, but am extremely interested in chassis design.

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Sorry no. I was getting more and more frustrated with it and taking photos at the time never crossed my minded. If I do open it up again then I will

 

I suspect the A4 will be the same so that will get the same DCC fit as the A3 so I could do photos of that when it arrives. 
 

Both German style smoke deflectors are very delicate. Must refit both of mine tomorrow. 

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I know what you are saying and do agree. But these tiny little things do all add to production costs. 

 

But I don't mind carrying out little tasks like this. Kind of makes it my own. 

 

Anyone though of adding two speakers, one loco and one tender?

 

Cheers, Ade.

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1 hour ago, Adrian Stevenson said:

I know what you are saying and do agree. But these tiny little things do all add to production costs. 

 

But I don't mind carrying out little tasks like this. Kind of makes it my own. 

 

Anyone though of adding two speakers, one loco and one tender?

 

Cheers, Ade.

 

Hi Ade,

Love to see some pics, when you get chance.  Just a query though, would it sound right with sound (other than a fireman shovelling) coming from the tender? Not criticising, just thinking out loud.


Rich

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There has to be almost as much noise coming from the firebox as the chimney.  That’s where the air goes in.  If in doubt, listen to an internal combustion engine at both ends, there’s remarkably little in it in terms of sheer volume!  (Air filters are very good silencers!)

 

so a speaker at the cab end would not be wrong.  In the tender might be a little too aft, particularly if there was no speaker up front, but imo, the ash pan is pretty much ideal.

 

atb

Simon

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I fitted two speakers one in the tender and one directly below the chimney. Tender is easy, under the chimney would be easy if the motor did not come away with the boiler. Plenty of room under the chimney for a good size speaker. 
 

With this combination it puts the balance around the cab. Need to turn the volume down on the tender speaker to push the sound forward. 

Edited by two tone green
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All the wiring is in place although you need to wire the tender speaker to the Loksound L adapter board. Easy as the solder pads are easy to locate and solder too. 
 

The Loksound L supports two speakers with two sets of speaker connections on the adapter board. 
 

The under chimney speaker wiring is in place in the fire box inside the the boiler firebox moulding. It just needs threading forward to the area under the chimney and soldering to the speaker of your choosing. 
 

The smoke box door is lightly glued in but easily knocked out from the inside of the boiler from the firebox end with a long drift. Gives easy access to the area under the chimney and speaker area. 
 

I found that mine pushed back on and stayed tightly in place without re- glueing. 

Edited by two tone green
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I fitted two speakers one in the tender and one directly below the chimney. Tend er is easy, under the chimney would be easy if the motor did not come away with the boiler. Plenty of room under the chimney for a good size speaker. 
 

With this combination it puts the balance around the cab. Need to turn the volume down on the tender speaker to push the sound forward. 

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